Looking at this potentially for my wife, BUT I know she will say no go (even if I buy it as a surprise) if the transmission isn't automatic. Anyone ever done this swap? Did these come with an auto from the factory? I know very little about them. Below is the car that I am considering: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1959-AMC-R...630918?hash=item2ac8736046:g:FdIAAOSwRwxciADG
There's a few amc guys on here that will steer you in the right direction. I'm sure they will chime in.
AMC info at http://theamcforum.com/forum/forums.html Early Ramblers had a small pattern bell housing. Later Rambler trans will not BOLT UP. There were autos for that car but they are hard to find. Nick
Some AMC had a torque tube rear end which makes it harder to change transmissions.If you found a donor car with a auto in it you could take everything you needed.
I've always liked Americans and have 1958 (first) through 1969 (last). Ad goofed some, it's a 196 (195.6) ci.in. flathead. 3 on tree. The Super you could have had an automatic, I prefer manual. Last picture shows some floorpan rot. Swapping to automatic wouldn't be too difficult IF you happened to have a donor car with a good transmission and all associated parts. Otherwise (my opinion) it wouldn't be worth it. Me... I would buy it only if driver(s) can drive a straight. It's extremely easy once you get used to it. Sent from my Bell Candlestick
I took a good look at pictures there is a big rust hole in the floor. Ramblers did not have a frame son no frame off restro they are uni body. No torque tube on this early model. Run away. Nick
This one is a no-brainer...Our own corncobcoupe has a 59 American complete and it has the automatic transmission. He's asking little to no money for the car. Look him up.
Great info here! People have said that the cars are unibody and if there is rust then run. Wouldn't it be hard to find a car from the late 50s with no rust at all? I like the car but I also don't like the color really.
Big difference with rust on a frame car vs rust on a unibody car. Unless you can give it a thorough inspection; might be something to avoid. That said; my friend picked up a '59 American wagon when he was at SEMA a few years back; absolutely no rust; but a lot of sun damage to everything soft. The right car may be out there.
Those flathead six engines had barely enough power to keep with traffic with the standard. With just the driver they were adequate. Put a couple other passengers and some stuff in the trunk and they were woefull. My aunt had 63 station wagon she used to deliver stuff for her cattering business. With a couple of coolers of hours de ouvres, some ice and a case of wine, first gear was necessary to negotiate the hills in Oswego, NY. Not hamb friendly but if I were doing it, I would look for a drive train from a 80's turbo Volvo. I think the 2 liter four put out around 200 HP and many were automatics.
The obvious answer is teach your wife to drive a car with a manual transmission but of course we all know that that will never happen.
later engine and flash o matic listed in HAMB classifieds last fall. Probably still has it as demand would be low. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...32-with-a-flash-o-matic-transmission.1125878/
It is not impossible but not worth the work and expense, just buy a car with an automatic. They aren't that hard to find. Don't you wish you kept the 58 Studebaker? For a car like a Rambler the cost of changing it would exceed the value of the car, and involve finding an identical car with automatic to get all the parts off of.
Yuk. Keep it original or don't buy it. Around 100hp is enough for me. My 66 Rogue convertible 290 V8 has more...so does my 390 SC/Rambler. The 199, 232, 258 OHV 6s were great motors. Sent from my Bell Candlestick
Not to much, because selling that allowed me to move onto the next car. I prefer the 53 Olds Im working on at this point. I do think about the Old Stude every now and then
Those old manual shift cars are so easy to drive if everything is in order. Can't you talk her into it? First new car I brought home for my wife after we got together was a stick. She's not real physical, but after she mastered it she's never wanted anything else. Two more new cars since then, both manual-that's what she wants. Maybe it's some kind of female "macho" thing, is there a word for that?
My wife couldn't drive the late 70 Chevette I had with a four speed, but COULD drive the 61 American with three speed and flat head six. The engine will just chug on even if you let the clutch out to early in first gear, it won't jerk like more modern cars do. This is partly to do with the low speed torque of the engine, partly to do with the relatively weak clutch which will slip a little under those conditions, and partly due to rather low gearing in the rear axle. Sounds like a tractor taking off, but on a level it's hard to choke down, and will handle an incline taking off much better than any more modern car. Won't take off fast, but hard to choke down. They used a Borg Warner auto, and the trans isn't hard to find. Just plan on having it rebuilt, as an old auto trans probably isn't going to last long. Find someone familiar with the Ford FMX to rebuild it. The FMX is actually based on earlier Ford trannys that are license built Borg Warner autos and is similar to, but slightly different than, the BW autos. Soft parts (clutches and bands, some gaskets) interchange with the FMX, but most hard parts (gears, shafts, etc.) don't. rebuild gasket sets are packaged to fit all early Ford and BW trannys -- whats' a few extra gaskets? There will be unused gaskets in the kit for this reason. As noted, early AMC six trannys use a different bell than later ones. 56-71 use the "small six" pattern, 72+ use the "late model V-8" pattern... same as 66+ AMC V-8s (pre 66 V-8s use a different bell pattern). That said, there are some differences in auto trannys for the 1956-65 196 engines (L-head and OHV models use the same parts) and the 1964-71 199/232/258 (199 replaced the 196 in 1966, 258 came out in 1971, so only that year will use the pre 72 bell). Namely the 196 has a slightly smaller diameter flexplate, so the starter is in a slightly different position. You CAN use the 199/232/258 trans with the 196 and vice-versa, but you either have to change the flexplate and torque converter (converter has ring gear on it) or shim/grind the starter. I haven't done it, but a couple people on the AMC Forum have. The 58-63 American has an open driveshaft, the other bigger Ramblers have a torque tube. You CAN, however, use a torque tube trans in an American. The seal and splines are the same. You will need an American driveshaft yoke since the torque tube yoke is too short to move in and out like the open driveshaft yoke does. There will be a flange on the output shaft housing for the torque tube to bolt up, but who cares? It's just not used. It can be cut off, but does no harm under the car. Or you could find a junk American trans and change the output shaft housing... just not necessary. Everything else about the trans is identical to the open driveshaft model. to go the other way around you need to swap the output housings so there will be a mount for the torque tube on the big car.
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